1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connector assembly of the type employing a plurality of interchangeable parts which can be assembled to form a plurality of distinct connector configurations, such that only those connectors having the same mutual orientation can be intermated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional pin and socket connector assemblies generally are keyed to permit mating in only one specific orientation. This is true whether the configuration of the connector is circular or generally rectangular in shape. The requirement that only properly keyed connector assemblies be intermatable is necessary because each connector assembly is intended to interconnect corresponding conductors, for example specific color coded wires in multiconductor cables. With conventional connectors of this construction, the need to appropriately key the connectors requires that non-matable connectors generally require separately molded insulative housings.
The present invention permits a keyed connector assembly to be assembled from a plurality of separate components. For example, the instant invention can permit a multi-pin connector assembly to easily be assembled in twelve separate configurations. The prior art is not known to disclose any connector assembly having this capability.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,880 discloses a connector having a plurality of pins and sockets mounted on separate housings, each uniquely keyed to the other so that the two housings are intermatable only in one angular orientation.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,901,574; 4,443,052; and 4,477,022 show circular plastic connectors having a helical outer locking ring. In the two latter patents, pins extending outwardly from a flat base are insertable in sockets located in passages in the other connector housing. The housings are keyed for only one angular orientation by peripheral tongue and groove keys.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,337 shows a circular two-piece connector assembly. Each connector half has an integrally molded main body with a rotatable locking collar and coupling pin on the exterior of the respective main bodies. The main bodies have dissimilar shaped passages, some rectangular and some circular. Pin terminals in one housing extend from the front of one body while socket terminals are located within the passages in the other connector. This unique pattern of terminals and passages is fixed relative to tongue and groove keys on the bodies so that this pattern has only a singular orientation.
Another circular connector having a plurality of contacts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,759. In this connector, the terminals are mounted within housing posts and cavities which intermate when the two connector halves are mated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,655 discloses a modular electrical connector assembly having a plurality of interchangeable components which can be assembled in a variety of configurations. Both pin and socket inserts can be mounted in plug and receptacle shells in three angular orientations. Mating keys and keyways on the plug and receptacle shells then ensure that the two connector halves can only mate if the inserts are at the same angular orientation. However, this patent discloses a connector employing only five terminals, and since any post is matable with any cavity, the angular orientations differ from each other only by fractions of the angular dispersion of adjacent terminals. Thus both the number of terminal positions and the number of angular orientations which can be employed for this configuration are practically limited by the size of the keys and keyways which can be manufactured. This device differs from the present invention because the inserts themselves are not mutually keyed or polarized. Furthermore, this prior art device does not permit the conductor circuit pattern to remain stationary and independent of the keying or polarization.
Other connectors, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,220, using matable posts and cavities employ posts which are polarized with respect to cavities, by altering the cross-section of one pair of posts and cavities with respect to the others. These connectors, however, are not of modular construction and do not permit a plurality of configurations to be assembled using the same interchangeable parts.